The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas · Page 1

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B^ 'Gate prowl Kansas State takes on the Missouri Tigers today /C1 GOP Pitt ,Gov. Bill Graves critical of conservative views/B1 • Power of prayer: Democrat wants to end chaplain tradition / A4 • Women's worship: New group brings women together in prayer / A6 INSIDE High: 36 Low: 23 Sunny and not as cold today with winds becoming southerly IN WEAtH^'/Vvl^l Journal Classified / C5 Comics/B8 Deaths/A7 Great Plains / B1 Money/B5 Religion / A6 Sports/C1 Viewpoints / B2 SATURDAY JANUARY 27, 1996 SALINA, KANSAS 50 cents V DOCTOR'S TRIAL in deaths of patients Physician convicted of murder, attempted murder in deaths of two in 1992 By LINDA MOWERY-DENNING The Salina Journal ST. FRANCIS — A tension-filled day in Cheyenne County District Court ended Friday with a verdict of murder and attempted murder against a former St. Francis physician. After about nine hours of deliberation, the jury found Stan Naramore, 50, guilty of first-degree attempted murder and second-degree murder. The verdict of second- degree murder means the panel could not find premeditation in the case of Chris Willt, an 81-year-old St. Francis farmer who died Aug. 5, 1992, in the emergency room of the Cheyenne County Hospital. Naramore, who has spent 18 months in jail, was originally charged with the first- degree murder of Willt and first-degree "attempted murder in connection with his Aug. 2, 1992, treatment of terminally ill cancer patient Ruth Leach, 78, Bird City. Leach died three days later of her illness. Naramore showed little expression as Judge Jack Burr of Goodiarid read the verdictshortlyafterSp.m. His wife, ^am, cried "Oh, God,' 1 " and began to sob. Beside her was the couple's 11-year- old daughter, who also broke into tears. Defense attorney Kurt Kerns'of Wichita, who was handling his first murder case, said he was stunned by the decision. He promised to represent Naramore on appeal. "I'll represent him to the Supreme Court. This verdict is a travesty of justice," Kerns said. Jon Fleenor, a prosecutor from the Kansas attorney general's office, praised his team and said the jury addressed the central issue in the case: "Doctors cannot make a choice about a patient's life without consulting that patient and the family." The families of Willt and Leach had similar reactions. "The evidence was presented and the jury has decided and that's all I really have to say," said Jim Leach, a Bird City farmer and the son of Ruth Leach. After court ended, the Naramores hugged before Stan Naramore was returned to jail. Pam, still crying, walked from the courtroom with her arm around the couple's distraught daughter. The verdict ended a day of uncertainty for everyone involved with the case. At one point, jurors sent a note to Judge Burr asking for transcripts of the testimony of several witnesses. He refused, but said they could ask to have the testimony reread, a task that would have taken hours. As jurors returned to the jury room without the testimony, several members of the Leach and Willt families continued their vigil in the second-floor courtroom. On the floor above, Naramore waited with his family and friends. One friend, Dr. Ernest Cram, who retired in 1992 after almost four decades as a physician, predicted that the Naramore case would have a chilling effect on doctors. "We're scared enough now to do things," he said. Prosecutors alleged that Naramore gave Ruth Leach an overdose of pain medication and would have given her more if he hadn't been stopped by Jim Leach. In the Willt case, the former physician was charged with injecting a paralyzing drug and then declaring the farmer brain dead. Defense witnesses disputed those findings and said the records showed Naramore to be a caring, competent physician. Talk of the town The case, which had cost Cheyenne County and its 3,200 citizens almost $45,000 before the trial started, has been the talk of the town. Friday morning, at the local convenience store where Chris Willt fell ill in 1992, customers speculated about the time it would take the jury to reach a verdict. During the afternoon many townfolks arrived to await a decision. Cheyenne County Attorney Floyd Jensen, who assisted with the prosecution, said he couldn't remember the last time there was a murder trial in St. Francis. Naramore faces a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. Prosecutors had said they would ask for the "Hard 40," which meant he would not be eligible for parole for 40 years, but the convictions returned do not fall under the "Hard 40" category. T WHITEWATER Clinton testifies to jury 'First lady says she hopes she helped in questions over records By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — In a historic appearance, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton testified for about four hours Friday before a grand jury that must decide whether criminal charges are warranted in the disappearance — and then rediscovery — of her long-sought law firm billing records. Clinton said she told the jurors assembled by Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr what she has said before publicly: "I do not know how the billing records came to be found where .they were found" in the. White House living quarters. The first wife of a president ever summoned before a grand jury, Clinton emerged from the courthouse the same way she arrived — with a wave and a smile., "It's been a long day," she said. "I, like everyone else, would like to know the answer about how those documents showed up after all those years. I tried to be as helpful as I could in their investigative efforts." She said most of the questions dealt with the law firm records, but "there were other matters discussed." Starr declined to answer reporters' questions. Clinton's appearance was carried on live television. But her testimony occurred in a third-floor courtroom sealed from public view. Her inquisitor was Starr. CLINTON em LAUGHIN' Phqtqs by TOM DORSEY / The Salina Journal Children react to the storytelling of Denny Dey (above) on Friday afternoon at Happy Corner Elementery School. Day, Kansas City, was telling folk stories during a reading motivation program. "You don't stand up here for 45 minutes and talk about reading," Dey said. "You give them 40 minutes of fun and five minutes of motivation. It doesn't take a lot of motivation to get them pumped up." T BUDGET Federal shutdown averted Clinton, Congress agree on agency spending for seven more weeks By The Associated Press WASHINGTON — Just hours before a midnight deadline, President Clinton and a conflict-weary Congress on Friday averted a third federal shutdown since November by financing dozens of agencies for seven more weeks. "There's no question now of the government shutting down," Clinton said before signing legislation warding off another round of fur: loughed workers and padlocked offices that both sides saw as a public relations nightmare. The Senate passed the bill 82-8 Friday, capping a week in which Republicans gave up trying to pressure Clinton into a pact to balance the federal budget by 2002. The House passed the measure Thursday. Republicans were especially eager to avoid another closure, since most Americans blamed GOP intransigence in the budget fight for the first two. Clinton, in signing the measure, said he appreciated Congress' "bipartisan approach toward this bill" and urged the House and Senate to quickly pass several money bills so that the prospect of a shutdown does not arise again this year. "Governing by continuing resolution is not the appropriate way for the Congress to perform its work," he said. The president" also asked Congress to quickly send him a "straightforward full year extension of the debt limit," saying at risk is the government's ability "to make timely payment of $30 billion of Social Security benefits and other obligations." T WORKERS'COMPENSATION CASE State Supreme Court won't reinstate charges By The Associated Press TOPEKA — Fletcher Bell will not go on trial over his $94,469 workers' compensation award, the state Supreme Court decided Friday. The justices refused to reinstate criminal charges against the former insurance commissioner. Prosecutors alleged Bell filed a false workers' BE'II compensation claim and improperly influenced its handling, but a Shawnee County judge declared the evidence "woefully inadequate." The Supreme Court's decision was unanimous. Reaction was mixed among legislators, many of whpm had described Bell as the "poster boy" for their successful efforts to overhaul workers' compensation laws. Bell always denied any wrongdoing and described a review of his award and the criminal case as a political witch.-hunt. He served as insurance commissioner in 1971-91 and lived in Lawrence, but he moved to Arkansas after criminal charges were filed. "I think the state ought to be ashamed for bringing the case," said Bell's attorney, Mark Bennett Jr., Tppeka: "They put this man and his family through hell — and for what?" T CRIME Du Pont heir holes up after slaying on estate The Associated Press A police officer carries a weapon Friday into the estate of John E. du Pont. Murdered Olympic wrestler was coach of club team sponsored by du Pont By The Associated Press •NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — An heir to the Du Pont chemical company fortune apparently shot an Olympic wrestler to death Friday, then holed up inside his. mansion as SWAT team members converged on his estate, police said. John E. du Pont was heavily armed and had barricaded himself alone inside a second- floor bedroom of his mansion, police said. Negotiations broke down after several hours, and officers were keeping their distance. "John du Pont is a marksman and he has an arsenal," said police Sgt. Brian McNeill. Dave Schultz, 36, was shot once in the arm and twice in the chest with a .38 caliber re- volver about 2 p.m. Friday, Police Chief Michael Mallon said. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Mercy Haverford Hospital. Mallon said the shooting took place in the driveway of the home on the estate where Schultz lived with his wife and children. Du Pont then drove back to his mansion, about a mile away, and holed up in the bedroom. "We do not know what motivated Mr. du Pont to do what he did," Mallon said. Schultz was among the best-known amateur wrestlers in the country. He won the 163-pound freestyle gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and the 1983 world championship. He won seven world-level freestyle medals overall. A wrestling coach for du Font's club team, Schultz was ranked first in the country in his weight class and was working on a comeback, training for the Olympic Games in Atlanta. "He was considered a top hopeful for the 1996 team," USA Wrestling spokesman Gary Abbott said. -1.